Patrice Badami 0:02 

This is Patrice Badami with Acorn to Tree, our video series. Tonight, we have Adithya Narayanan , a business intelligence lead in Singapore. He’s an implementer of ISO standards and a certified data protection officer. He’s from computer geeks and has an excellent Instagram with so much information. I reached out to him because it’s straightforward step-by-step instructions that anybody can implement. And I was just so excited that he agreed to be a guest today. How are you this evening?

 Adithya Narayanan 0:40

Hi, Patrice, I’m good. I’m so honored to be invited to this podcast. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. 

Patrice Badami 0:48 

This is going to be great because we’re going to get a lot of information. In the age of technology, many parents and people, just in general, become overwhelmed at times. They are concerned for children and young adults and their involvement with technology. And here, we will break through some concerns and get some information. Here are some questions we will start with: What are your top recommendations for parents? Who wants to ensure their children are safe online?

 Adithya Narayanan 1:19 

Okay, so I think the first thing is that it’s essential to start talking to your kids about online safety and responsible internet use from an early age; you need to have frequent and open conversations about the potential risks like cyberbullying, and how to handle those situations if they do come up. But as your child grows up, you can set parental controls on your devices, browsers, and apps. And those would be appropriate to the age. But remember that you need to adjust the settings as they mature. But you know, controls are only sometimes foolproof. So, we also need to keep an eye on their online activity. 

Patrice Badami’s 2:06

 Those are my responses to open communication, not just this particular issue, but in all aspects so that you can be aware of what your children are experiencing and their fears and concerns and give them the proper information. Hence, they know how to proceed with responsibility using technology. What technology or software would you suggest for monitoring a child’s online activity?

Adithya Narayanan

1. Parents can use several software tools and apps to monitor their kids’ activity on computers and phones. 
2. Famisafe computer monitoring software can track websites visited, time spent on the device, and more.
3. Parental control apps like Qustodio, Bark, Net Nanny, and OurPact allow parents to filter content and limit screen time on their child’s smartphone or tablet. 
4. More extensive monitoring options from TeenSafe and Uknowkids can track messages, emails, files, and locations.
5. Location-sharing apps like Life360, Find My Kids, or MMGuardian allows you to monitor your child’s location when they are out.

While software can help, nothing replaces open and honest conversations with your kids about internet safety. It’s essential to set clear rules and boundaries for their online activity

 Patrice Badami 3:27

Here’s a question for you. Also, concerning search engines, I heard of the search engine Duck Duck Go. That’s one that I have on my child’s tablet. That will also help to filter out certain content that’s not savory for a child to be exposed to. However, you need to remember some of the different social media. Even though, for example, there are kids on YouTube, it only takes the developer. This person develops the content just to toggle over that it’s for children and that it isn’t necessarily monitored by YouTube because of the extensive content. There are millions and millions of videos every day. And it’s just not possible to see that. So what you need to do is you need to go through the tablet, see what your child has subscribed to, and make sure that you’re on top of that as well. So, how adequate are parental controls in today’s technology landscape? And what are some limitations parents should be aware of?

  Adithya Narayanan 4:32 

The Parental Controls have some drawbacks. They may not work if the kids use public Wi-Fi or borrowed devices. But some tech-savvy kids can get around it. So we must keep a moderate control. We can have a low list of pre-approved sites instead of a deny list so that you can keep a list and tab of where your child should be sitting, and the controls can’t even filter like social media chat and other devices. So, the best approach is to combine age-appropriate controls with an open conversation about online safety. And gradually, you can allow more autonomy as the children become unemployed; if they can handle it, you can maintain some parental oversight. Right? Yeah,

 Patrice Badami 5:24

 Looking into the future, what emerging technologies should parents be aware of regarding potential risks for children?

  Adithya Narayanan 5:36

 Regarding looking into the future, you can look into virtual reality. So, virtual and augmented reality have some inappropriate content and harassment potential. They’re also like internet-connected smart devices. Those could be some privacy risks if they’re being hacked. There are also AI chatbots, which may influence kids in a harmful way. They’re also home assistants that have Alexa Siri, they have mics, they have a camera, they have the conversation ability. So, we need to keep ourselves safeguarded against data breaches. Ensure we have ground rules for how long the children use those devices. 

Patrice Badami 6:23

 There’s one question I wanted to ask you about; there are these stickers that you can put on the devices for the cameras, for example, a tablet, you can put those on as well, just to safeguard cause kind of how does that work when the child is on a tablet, and they don’t have the camera covered? What is a potential? Something that could happen that might not be the best thing for the child to be exposed to?

  Adithya Narayanan 6:50

 Yeah, so it becomes open when they don’t have that tape on the camera. So anybody can actually if a hacker comes into a Wi-Fi network, they can access the camera and can record without the person knowing it. And they can record and upload those videos or photos online. And they can call it and cause harm to the children. 

Patrice Badami 7:14 

yeah. So that’s very important trying to get those that you can get them anywhere, they’re little, tiny little black stickers, your child’s not even going to notice, you can put it on the different devices that they’re using the laptops as well as the tablets, it’s just a good idea to have that. So, what are some of the best practices for securing home Wi-Fi networks to ensure the privacy and safety of families? 

 Adithya Narayanan7:40

 So you can use a strong and complex password instead of a default one. And you can enable WPA two or WPA three encryption on your wireless routers. So what this does is it hides your network name. So, it’s not publicly visible. You can limit the connections only to authorized devices. So you can specify which device is allowed to connect. You can turn off remote access to your router to prevent other people, like hackers, from entering your router and manipulating and using your data. And it’s also good to talk to your kids about safe Wi-Fi practices so that they understand network security. 

Patrice Badami 8:31

 I am going to ask you this now. If you were to go to one of these technology stores, you could purchase, I’m not going to say, the name of the different technology. Still, there’s a type of technology you can purchase your router and program it now with the different technology providers present. Um, there are different ones here in the United States. They can have a provisional, like the particular carrier that I use has a provisional router that you cannot hack into this. However, something like Netgear, if you’re trying to save money and do it yourself and then stream, you could be very vulnerable to being hacked. Now, how exactly do you set the set the router to and remove the remote access? How do you do that via your settings on your computer? Or is it something you physically do on the hardware? 

 Adithya Narayanan 9:33 

So when you purchase routers, they will give you admin access where you can use your laptop or PC to update the network settings accordingly. So, if the deacon asks the technician who helps you do that, they will give you login access to log in and change the settings as required. Okay, change 

Patrice Badami 9:55

 the settings. Okay. So that’s interesting, so if you’re good, If you’re moving into a house or something in your change where you’re changing your provider, make sure that you’re able to do that you make sure that that router is set not to have remote access, and people are not allowed to everyone access. Okay, fair enough. How can parents safeguard their child’s personal information when using smartphones and tablets?

  Adithya Narayanan 10:23 

So, as parents, we need to teach the kids not to overshare sensitive information, like the address, the phone number, or even the password. We should set device rules, such as not using devices in bedrooms or even monitoring the smartphone, like using the apps I mentioned. And you can review, and you can review and adjust privacy and parental settings to keep them safe online. And you can limit the screen time. So, as a parent, you can educate yourself on websites, apps, and games they use. And you can check their social media profiles; what are their gaming profiles? What do they post online? These would encourage them to choose appropriate screen names and strong passwords. So, we also need to make a clear rule that meeting online person. So, if you find someone online and want to meet them in person, you need to recruit; they need approval and supervision before they do so because it’s unsafe. We must ensure the parents set the ground rules and openly discuss with the kids to keep them safe online.

 Patrice Badami 11:36

Right. Another essential thing to do is with your home Wi-Fi; the parents can have their network for what they’re doing, their banking, etc., and have a guest network for all visitors to the home to further secure your information. That’s something you should think about doing. And I ask you this: Are there any security measures for cloud storage that families should be aware of to protect their data? 

Adithya Narayanan

2. Use strong, complex passwords and two-factor authentication.

Get a password manager. Carefully review sharing settings to limit access to specific people only rather than enabling public links.

Enable remote wipe capabilities to erase data if a device is lost or stolen.

Regularly monitor account activity like logins, file access, and API usage to catch unauthorized access.

Choose enterprise-grade cloud options like Dropbox Enterprise over basic consumer versions for businesses or susceptible data. Give kids restricted, separate accounts to avoid accidental sharing of family info.

Maintain local backups of critical cloud data in case something happens. Taking steps like these can help keep your data more secure in the cloud.

 Patrice Badami 13:12

 We need to double-check one thing on that, so now, we have the two-factor authentication, okay? Then, when it comes to the cloud itself, you need to know the part about remote access that we should enable or disable that is one to clarify. 

 Adithya Narayanan13:31 

We need to enable remote wipe capability. So we can lose a particular device, the phone. Okay, we can remotely wipe it online so that the person who stole it won’t have any access to your data. 

Patrice Badami 13:46

 Okay, that’s, I want to make sure I understood that. Okay, that makes sense. So that you can control it; if your device is gone, it doesn’t mean everything’s gone. So you can enable the remote access to that. With the increasing use of virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, and you had mentioned, touched on before, the privacy concerns for parents that they should consider again; these are devices that can have internet, they have microphones embedded, and even tablets, like a Fire tablet that has a microphone as well. So you need to be aware of that. You need to make sure that your child does not discuss the address of the phone or obviously anything about their social security numbers; these things should not be discussed in front of these devices. And you should think about that when you get these devices. Is it true, or one question: Does the ring system also have a microphone feature? Or is that inaccurate? 

Adithya Narayanan14:53 

Yeah, the ring device also has the voice recorder camera and the voice recording. So what happens with these devices is the voice recordings are stored. And it’s being analyzed by the manufacturer to improve speech recognition. You can disable this if it’s concerning. And the location access can be convenient. But it also provides personal data. So it’s better to limit that location access on kids’ accounts. You can link the other accounts like shopping or music; it exposes more data breaches, but it may be convenient for you. But for the hacker, there’s more data for him to breach. And the mic, as you know, as you mentioned, is always listening. And making sure what we say, they capture those words, they send us advertisements. So, a way to ensure we monitor the kid’s usage and skills and have the appropriate content. Even network mics like cameras, smart TVs, and toys also collect all your data. We should be aware of those risks. And make sure we disable the recording. We limit the account linking, and we monitor the kid’s interaction. This would help protect the privacy of intelligent assistants like Siri, Alexa, or Google. 

Patrice Badami 16:17 

Right? Yeah, so the account linking is something you need to be aware of. For example, I’m just going to. The only thing off the top of my head is Amazon has audible. Like that type of thing you’re referring to, there’s Amazon, where you purchase, then there’s the audible, then there’s the movies, and there’s all different things. You need to be careful with the account linking and trying to think of any other circumstances that would be besides Amazon, I don’t even know what else is an example of that. Then 

 Adithya Narayanan 16:51

 Netflix is one example where we use Netflix for watching accounts or watching movies. So we need separate accounts for kids and families so the kids don’t accidentally go into the family account. And they are being exposed. Also, on YouTube, you have YouTube kits that are safe for the kids, and not the regular YouTube, which is open to all, so it’s better to use the YouTube Kids for the children. 

Patrice Badami 17:20

 Yes, yes. Also, be aware that as a content creator, all somebody has to flick over the toggle to say it is for children. And you still have to watch because you never know what can slip in there. Because I’ve been experience experienced, experienced it myself. Excuse me. So, okay, again, the location-sharing features on smartphones and tablets; we discussed that before. Just be very careful of that. You can toggle off location. When you go to your settings on your phone, you can turn off the location. And that’s that makes sense unless you’re using, for example, Waze. Or if you’re using Instacart that deliver groceries, you need to have it. But you can always toggle it right, use it when needed, and turn it off. Don’t keep it on all the time. What are some telltale signs that a family’s device has been hacked or cloned? 

  Adithya Narayanan 18:24

 Regarding telltale signs, if you want to talk about those required, we can see if there will be some unexpected pop-up at a toll bus. You should be aware of this because those are signs of malware. And it can be like slow performance where your device would run smoothly. But it may feel sluggish because malware is taking up resources. If you see any unusual account activity, keep an account of your online social media emails and ensure nobody posts something without your knowledge. If you notice any unfamiliar apps like you didn’t remember installing them. So make sure you remove that. And if you see your device getting overheated, that is wrong, like a virus or malware is inside. And it’s overstraining your processor. So it’s good to have some antivirus installed. And even you see their popup ads coming on lock devices. So even though you had locked your screen, you’ll see popup ads coming out, which is wrong with your device. Those are some things that you can do. You can change your passwords in all your accounts. And make sure you enable the two-factor authentication. You can run antivirus scans and consider a factory reset, where you take a backup and reset the entire phone. This way, you can be digitally safe  with Your phone?

 Patrice Badami 19:59

 I have a question about that. For example, on my phone, I have a Lacie backup. Is that something that can be used for the phone so you can periodically clean out your phone? And like you said, factory? Reset it while keeping your data safe on an external hard drive. Does that make sense? Is that a good idea?

  Adithya Narayanan 20:22

 Yeah, yeah, you can use a lazy backup. But as a good practice, you can backup every week that will be

 Patrice Badami 20:29

 there every week. Right. Okay, fair enough. Um, and then the anti-virus software for off? Is it something where it’s specific to Androids or something that, for an iPhone, it’s different? What type of anti-virus software can you install on your phone? Is there someone that you recommend?

  Adithya Narayanan 20:51

 Yeah, you can use Norton mobile security or P O. N. That’s quite good. Also, you can use Metacafe mobile security, MCA F E. Those two are pretty good. 

Patrice Badami 21:06

 Okay, so that’s NCF e-magazine. Yeah. All right. Right. Great. Let’s see, how often should families update their security settings and software to safeguard against hacking attempts? Did you say weekly? Yeah, that’s right. So, weekly. Okay. Now, here’s something. Yeah, sorry

 Adithya Narayanan 21:28 

Yeah. To add on, it’s actually important to update the security settings in the software’s. So if you look into your phone, there will be some times and updates notification. So it’s always good to update your phone. This would keep the operating system secure. Whenever they are pushing out those updates, these help to prevent some vulnerabilities. And this would be good to make sure your device is protected against new upcoming hacks. And it’s good to change your passwords regularly. A good practice is three to six months. And make sure you have your strong unique passwords for different accounts. So don’t keep the same password for different accounts. So yeah. Yeah, so you can use a password manager to track them.

And regarding routers and networks, updating your firmware regularly is good. You must change your default login. So we have noticed many people keep the default admin admin login after username and password. So what happens is a hacker who can use the same password can come into your Wi-Fi network and compromise your data. So, it’s always best to change the router’s default password. 

Patrice Badami 22:45

 Oh, yes, because it comes with information, like when you purchase it, it does have this information, you have to change that it’s essential. There’s another thing I was thinking about on your phone: an area that depends on your form. But there’s an area concerning passwords, where it shows that there’s been a data breach and that you’re, you know, it’s recommending, whether it’s a high priority or not, it’s recommended that you go in. You don’t just delete it, People think you can just delete it, and that’s okay; you have to go into the actual website, change the password, and change the username because there was some type of data breach. So that’s something that you need to do regularly as well. And people have a misconception that if you do these updates for your phones, oh, it’s aging it, it’s not going to be, it’s not going to last as long. I don’t want to do the update; you have to because new viruses are created weekly, if not daily, that you need, and if the companies are aware of that, they’re trying to protect you. So you need to you have to do them. If you want to avoid having a phone forever, and it’s filled with data breaches and a lot of malware, then it won’t help you. It’s better just to do the updates. What are some risks of using public Wi-Fi networks? Once again, security, privacy, people can see what you’re doing? Primarily you shouldn’t be doing any type of banking via Wi-Fi. So that’s, is there anything else you could add to that?

 Adithya Narayanan 24:24

 Yeah, sure. As you talked about security, the risk is that public Wi-Fi is less secure. And it becomes very easy for the hackers to intercept the data. This could include, as you mentioned, banking information, login information, personal messages, and some other risks, like malware. So malicious software can spread very quickly on public networks, like when you go to your airport, to a coffee shop, or to any particular Wi Fi that is used, like hospitals. So it’s actually good to use a VPN Device before connecting it so that it helps you put Accu it helps not to share your data, and it masks your IP address as well. And in terms of privacy, the public Wi-Fi can be monitored by others on the same network. This means that the children are communicating or accessing the information accessed by hackers with the same network. Whatever content is being exposed, like the children may, they may access inappropriate or harmful content if they’re not an unfiltered network, like the public Wi-Fi is. So you can use some protection measures you can use a VPN. So, a VPN is helping to encrypt the traffic and makes it more difficult for the hackers to intercept the data. So, you should install some reputable VPN on your family devices before connecting to your Wi-Fi. And you can turn off sharing. So, there is an option to disable file sharing and public folder sharing on your devices. This would prevent others on the same network from accessing your files, You can also make sure to use secure websites. So, if you see a website, it must have HTTPS in the URL. So, there are many browsers with HTTP. So those are unsecured websites. You should ensure you don’t enter, like login banking information, or social security numbers on those websites. And in terms of firewalls, enabling the firewall on your devices is good. If you’re using a laptop or a PC, the firewall can help block incoming threats. And this would help protect an additional layer of security. In terms of educating the children, we should teach them about the risks of using public Wi-Fi and the importance of not sharing personal information or even clicking on suspicious links or advertisements because they may receive a bitly link from anybody through a message. If they click on it, then all the data has been compromised. 

Patrice Badami 27:08

Okay, here’s another question concerning whether you’re out in the public and want to use your computer. Here’s a question. Okay, if you use your phone as a hotspot for your device, will that prevent somebody from hacking into your devices? Or is that a misconception?

 Adithya Narayanan 27:30

You can use a personal hotspot. yeah, that would help prevent it, but it’s also good to use your mobile data. So, instead of using public Wi-Fi, if you have mobile data plans enabled, it’s more secure than using public Wi-Fi. So you can turn on the mobile data, turn on the personal hotspot in your phone, and use that to connect to your laptop or desktop.

 Patrice Badami 27:52

 Right? That’s what I usually do. I wanted to ensure that was okay. Here’s another question. If you’re out, and you’re using your cellular data, you turn off the Wi-Fi, and you’re using your cellular data to surf the internet. Is that secure? Or is that? We’re not talking about cost. Now. I’m curious about security. Is that safe to do? Yeah, that is safe to do. Yes. Okay. And then the last question concerning when you’re looking, when you’re looking something up, you should go to the top of the screen. Well, I’m not even sure what the name of the bar is that has HTTPS; there’s the top URL with the URL, right? There you go. You shouldn’t be just looking stuff up in Google.

Also, you must be very careful about printers or devices needing to be fixed. And you’re concerned about customer service; it’s so crucial that you make sure that you get, for example, your printer Canon or HP or whatever. We ensure you have the actual company by looking at that URL. Suppose there’s just a period at the end of the URL address. That could be a, that could be incorrect. That could be spyware. Right? It could be something malicious, where a company will exploit people. Make sure you have the exact HP. How would you recommend that they can do that, but to find out that it’s a legitimate, authentic website with customer service? 

 Adithya Narayanan 29:27

 So they can search in Google; instead of typing the entire website like.com or dot I n, they can go to Google and just type in the name of that particular website. They want to search without that.com. So Google helps to filter it out. Using an ad blocker like New Block Origin or Adblock Plus in Google Chrome would prevent you. So, even if you click on it, it doesn’t go through directly. It actually shows the error message on your Have a browser, and it shows it’s a malicious website that doesn’t go through. It prevents you from taking the next step. So, using your block origin as an extension in your browser is a good practice. 

Patrice Badami 30:13

 Right? Because years ago, they would have if it had a little lock, like the little actual lock, is that still, as that’s still accurate, that if you see the physical lock in the URL, that that’s a safe website. Is that actual, or is that not correct anymore? Unknown Speaker 30:29 Yeah, that is still that. Yeah, that is.

 Patrice Badami 30:31

 So that’s, that’s correct. Yes. Okay. All right. Well, um, I just wanted to make sure that we touched on everything; we talked about firewalls and two-factor authentication, which is so important. To do that, definitely make sure you do that. That means you will receive a text message via your phone to ensure that it’s you logging into these different devices. For example, if you do not yet use your iPad to access an account, it’ll question it automatically, and it’ll send it to ensure that it’s you to your phone. You’ll get a code that you put in. And that’s how that’s what that is. That’s the two-factor authentication. So, here’s one last question. How can parents safely dispose of old devices to ensure personal and safety-sensitive data has completely been removed? 

 Adithya Narayanan 31:24 

So, in terms of disposal of all devices, it’s good that you format the device seven times. So there’s a need to reformat seven times so that the personal data is entirely remote. And in terms of dispersal, there are some companies that you can research. These companies, what they do is they take out the hard drive and make a hole using a drill. Then nobody will be able to retrieve it because of the physical hole from the drill in the hard drive, so it becomes unusable. And the best way is to format it seven times. And either pass it to a person. Yeah, that will be the prevention method. 

Patrice Badami 32:17

 See, when you say format, I mean factory; reset it. Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. Yeah, because I’ve done that. But we didn’t do it seven times. So that’s concerning. But I changed my passwords constantly. I’m constantly doing that. So again, we had tonight we had Adithya Narayanan, from Computer Geeks; he’s a, he’s a business intelligence lead in Singapore. He’s a certified implementer for ISO standards and a certified data protection officer; he joined us tonight, giving us some very, very important information about helping to educate families about how to safeguard their privacy on devices and in their practices using technology. He has a lot of information that we will be including in the show notes, including his ad hoc marketing and promotions from companies using his Fiverr account; he has information on how you can, you know, reach out to him. A company deck for posting in show notes will be available with the website information. He has a lot of information he will be attaching concerning any new projects he’s doing. 

We have everything available, You can go to it and check it out; there will be a link to the link tree for computer Nice. Does that include different things that you recommend? Or for the public to look at devices and different products and whatnot? Is that what that is? Okay, that’s great. Okay, so once again, thank you so much for joining us tonight. I was so happy to speak to it; it was exciting. And he just has so much information on the Instagram presented to you. If you have any questions about what we discussed, you can check out his Instagram, and you’ll find all the information we discussed tonight. So, once again, thank you so much for joining us. And I look forward to possibly speaking to you again because we didn’t cover everything. We did get through a lot tonight. Thank you once again. Have a wonderful evening.

 Adithya Narayanan 34:20

 Thank you so much, Patrice. You’re doing an excellent job of keeping families and children safe. You’re playing an exciting part and also an essential part. And I wish you all the best. It’s always a good thing that we share this knowledge, and keeping people safe is very important in the digital world. So, we must keep ourselves safe from hackers, scams, and all these difficult people, which is why it’s hard to manage. 

Patrice Badami 34:50 

Right, and we’re protecting the children and educating the families; it’s just great. The Internet is excellent, but you must learn how to manage it properly. So once again, Have a great evening, everybody. This is the Acorn to Tree family video series, and thanks for listening.